composed

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of compose.

   Mozart composed some of his finest works in just a few weeks.

   The committee composed a formal response to the complaint.

   Note

   One spelling covers both the past tense and the participle. The participle does its most useful work in the passive be composed of, the standard way to say what a whole is made from: a jury composed of twelve citizens. The active runs the other way, with the parts as subject: twelve citizens composed the jury. Using compose to mean comprise, with the whole as the subject of the active verb, is nonstandard.

   The panel is composed of three judges and two lay members.

   Three judges and two lay members composed the panel.

2. 2
   adjective

   Calm and self-controlled, showing no outward sign of nervousness or strong emotion.

   Despite the chaos around her, the surgeon remained composed throughout the operation.

   His composed demeanor reassured the frightened passengers during the delay.

   Similarcalm, collected, poised, unruffled, serene

   Oppositeagitated, flustered, nervous, upset

   Note

   An adjective that still carries its reflexive verb inside it: Letitia Elizabeth Landon, writing in 1838, has Lord Penrhyn compose himself in his "most composing arm-chair." Someone who has composed themselves is simply composed, so the word sits right beside the past forms of compose. It grades freely (more composed, most composed), and sports writing applies it to whole teams, as when Phil McNulty wrote for the BBC in 2011 that Switzerland "looked the more composed."

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